The dreaded Oak Wilt

A beautiful day today as we near the end of our Texan holiday. ( 70 F this afternoon). 

We started the day with breakfast at Magnolia Cafe on Lake Austin boulevard - something we try to do once on our visits and always enjoyable.

Another place we try to visit is Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower center so we headed there after breakfast and in the sunshine and warmth it was delightful - at this time of year not the colour of the wildflowers we have seen on Spring visits but as a bonus several forts had been set up for children to play and climb and Abigail loved  interacting with other children.

There has been ongoing tree planting and many oaks have been replaced - Oak Wilt has killed many of the oaks in the Wildflower center, by the look of it some time ago. I liked the outline of the dead branches against the blue sky.

( Should anyone be the slightest bit interested an information board explained that oak wilt is one of the most destructive tree diseases in the United States. It is caused by the fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum , which disables the water- conducting system of oak trees, causing the trees to wilt and die.) 

Added extra later - Abigail still had excess energy so granny and I took her to the play park then to the creek where she met another little girl. The pair of them spent a long time poking in the water with sticks while we had lovely chats with the Chinese mum and her friend. Needless to say she was straight in the bath when we got her home !